Chapter Forty-Eight

Lois sat sweating in her car, staring at the octagonal disc she held in her hand. What was so special about this thing anyway? Her triumph of a successful heist was tainted by Julian almost dying. That had been the hardest part; acting like she didn't know anything and waiting for Chloe to hear something from Lex when Julian hadn't shown up for their date. Lex had told Chloe Julian had come down with the flu, which Lois knew was a lie. Still, why would the guy admit his brother almost died by snooping through top secret devices?

Is this capable of killing people? Lois flipped it around. As far as she could tell, it was a solid piece of metal. Nothing special. A small piece of metal locked in a safe at a high security lab in a sealed office.

Too late to turn back now, her mind yelled at her. Lois puffed a strand of hair, damp with sweat, away from her face. As per Hamilton's instructions, she was now at the Luthor Corp fertilizer plant at ten in the morning. This was when Hamilton had his smoke break, he had told her.

He stood by the side entrance, puffing a cigarette. "Hello, Lois." Hamilton grinned as he watched her climb the stairs. "You got it?"

Lois flashed the metallic disc. "What are we doing here?"

"Step two." Hamilton opened the door. "After you."

Lois stepped inside, reassuring herself that both Zatanna and Molly knew where she was. The plant was days away from being fully operational; It was just her and Hamilton.

He led her down a hallway to an elevator and pressed a place where she didn't see a button, but it lit up all the same. Lois felt the elevator go down and the doors opened to an overhang. She peered down at the decent drop below her. "Not much security here, is there?"

"Why would an abandoned plant require it?" Hamilton walked past her and opened one of the doors to the right.

Lois peaked inside before fully stepping in. It had the appearance of an office, the only furniture inside a desk and chair. Hamilton had to use a key to unlock a drawer and pulled out a clunky looking bracelet. Before Lois could protest, Hamilton snapped it on her wrist.

"Hey!"

"Relax, Ms. Lane. This won't hurt you."

"Get this off!" Her fingers fumbled to find a latch, but the band was smooth.

"Don't you want to see how it works? It's very simple. You take the disc," Hamilton easily took it from her since she was distracted, "and place it here." The disc was inserted into the bracelet as if it was a CD. "Then you hit this button and it does all the work for you."

Lois glared at Hamilton who still had a crocodile smile on his face. A quick glance down showed a countdown of eight minutes on the inside of her wrist. "What's it do? Explode?"

"You're perfectly safe. In fact, I think you'll find the contents in the next room far more interesting."

Hamilton made no efforts to run away, which was assuring that she wasn't wearing a small bomb. Lois walked out of the room and into the next. This room was also empty except for a large rectangle device in the middle of the floor. Some kind of mist was coming off it, and there were several monitors attached. What readings the computers were giving off, Lois wasn't sure. There was a length of shadow trapped inside. As she got closer, Lois could feel an icy chill radiating from it.

The rectangle was an ice cube.

The shadow must be something trapped inside. Lois rubbed the frost away on top to view inside. It was a person.

It was Julian.

Lois screamed and backed away. The room turned red and a blaring alarm loud enough to make the walls shake echoed everywhere. Lois covered her ears and ran to the elevator, not caring to wait for Hamilton. She didn't care who caught her. She raced into the elevator, where she tried to catch her breath in gasps. She couldn't breathe. Lois stumbled into the hallway and raced out of the plant, into the blaring heat. Frantically she looked around for her car, but the parking lot was empty.

Did Hamilton leave already?

Lois pulled out her phone and called Chloe.

"Hello?"

"I need a ride." Lois got out between pants.

"Lois?" Chloe sounded shocked. "Um…ok. Where are you?"

"I'm outside the fertilizer plant. Can't miss me. I'm the sweaty person running down the road."

"Be there in a flash. You owe me an explanation."

Lois focused on running. The exercise allowed her to regulate her breathing and try and process what she had seen. It couldn't be Julian in that block of ice. If Julian was there, who was it her cousin was dating? By the time Chloe's car caught up to her, Lois was drenched in sweat and her muscles were screaming in pain.

"Wow. You're pale and red in the face all at once. What happened?"

The inside of the car was air conditioned, and it felt glorious to sit down. Lois took some time to breathe. "I'll tell you all about it. To be honest, I don't know what I just saw." Lois frowned as she looked at the bracelet. The countdown was now at a time limit of a little under four hours now.

"What were you doing there?"

"So, I never stopped investigating the Kent Conundrum. You can yell at me all you want later. Long story short, I was meeting with Hamilton."

"Hamilton?"

"Yeah."

"Dr. Steve Hamilton?"

"Yeah. Keep up."

"Ok, why don't you take it easy, and you can tell me all about it once you cool down."

"Agreed. I need something cold and caffeinated."

The two girls spent the ride in silence as Chloe took them downtown. Driving down Main Street, Lois was confused when her cousin drove past the Beanery. At least, where the Beanery was supposed to be. A Mexican restaurant was in its place. Chloe parked her car on the street and Lois exited, mouth opened as she stood staring at an open, and busy, Talon.

"Hi, Lana," Chloe said to the girl with the long, dark hair writing on the sidewalk sign. "I don't think you've met my cousin, Lois Lane."

"Lana." Lois spoke slowly. "Lana Lang?"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you." The girl smiled. "Can I get something started for you guys?"

"Sure. I'll have my usual and…" Lois couldn't concentrate on what Chloe was saying. She concentrated on breathing and put her hands on top of her head.

One timeline where he's adopted by the Kents. The other by the Luthors and everything is as we know it, Jeffs voice echoed.

Except it wasn't timelines. It wasn't timelines at all.

Lois's eyes darted between Chloe and the impossible Lana Lang, who were now looking at her very concerned. Her mouth had gone dry. She swallowed a few times to get it unsticky so she could speak.

"I know where Clark Kent is."